Lacrosse my heart: Athletes meet and marry at destination wedding

By Louise Rafkin

Updated
1:16 pm PDT, Friday, August 28, 2015

At their late June Michigan wedding on the banks of Lake Heron accomplished athletes Whitney Douthett and Mark Masters couple brought together family and friends to celebrate their all-star team. Whitney played for the US Womenâ€™s Lacrosse team; Mark, a Canadian, played hockey for Dartmouth. Living in SF now, their destination wedding brought together 120 family and friends, many from the Bay Area. less

At their late June Michigan wedding on the banks of Lake Heron accomplished athletes Whitney Douthett and Mark Masters couple brought together family and friends to celebrate their all-star team. Whitney ... more

Photo: Adam And Emily Photographers

Photo: Adam And Emily Photographers

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At their late June Michigan wedding on the banks of Lake Heron accomplished athletes Whitney Douthett and Mark Masters couple brought together family and friends to celebrate their all-star team. Whitney played for the US Womenâ€™s Lacrosse team; Mark, a Canadian, played hockey for Dartmouth. Living in SF now, their destination wedding brought together 120 family and friends, many from the Bay Area. less

At their late June Michigan wedding on the banks of Lake Heron accomplished athletes Whitney Douthett and Mark Masters couple brought together family and friends to celebrate their all-star team. Whitney ... more

Photo: Adam And Emily Photographers

Lacrosse my heart: Athletes meet and marry at destination wedding

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At first meeting, things went swimmingly between Mark Masters and Whitney Douthett. It was 2010, and Mark, 33, now an analyst at Salesforce, spotted the vivacious Whitney, 29, in New York while at a friend’s wedding. “She lit up the room,” he said of Whitney, a finance director at ITG. The two were the rare singles at the event and soon they commanded the dance floor.

But then, mid-dip, Mark dipped — and dropped — his new friend. As he looked down at Whitney, she on her back, staring up at him (and everyone else), he thought, “Well, that’s that.”

However, the good-natured Whitney was not rattled. A star lacrosse player — she played on both the Dartmouth and the U.S. National teams, as well as in the World Cup — she easily bounced back. The fun night continued well until morning.

Both were living in New York; Mark was then recently out of a relationship while Whitney was dating sporadically. Neither imagined their wedding adventure would turn serious, however they both felt a hint of promise. So, for their first real date, Mark, a Canadian who played hockey at Princeton, planned a fancy dinner out even though it was the same night as a Stanley Cup game. When he mentioned that he had a friend in the match, Whitney immediately suggested they ditch dinner and duck into a sports bar.

“Beauty, brains, fun and loves sports?” said Mark. “She had it all.”

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The two began dating and found immediately they made a good team. While Whitney is organized, Mark is a self-described procrastinator. While she’s an extrovert, he’s an introvert. He says she pushes him from his shell; she says he makes her more thoughtful.

But it was when Mark, originally from LeDuc, Alberta, met Whitney’s parents that he knew he’d found his match. “I saw that we’d been raised the same; both our parents had brought us up to give nothing less than 100 percent,” he said. “Being a team player means you don’t whine, you always push ahead.”

In 2010 the couple moved from New York to Presidio Heights for work and a lifestyle change. Both wanted a better work-life balance and to live in a city where they could spend lots of time outdoors. For the time being, they consider San Francisco a perfect home base.

On June 20, on the banks of Lake Huron in northern Michigan, near her grandparents’ home, the two married, supported by nearly 200 family and friends. It rained leading up to the wedding weekend, but the skies cleared and bright sun shined for all the events. Whitney’s dad walked her down the aisle, and at the first look at his bride, a huge smile washed over Mark’s face.

The shimmering lake was a backdrop to the evening’s events, and dancing went on until midnight. Guests made a sparkler arch that the couple ran through before a night of bonfires, fireworks and s’mores. On Monday, after the festivities, the couple flew to Bali for a 12-day honeymoon.

“We’re so grateful to everyone who made the trip all the way to Michigan, and to our parents for making everything possible — and so perfect,” said Whitney, now back at work and daydreaming about the couple’s first dance, for which the normally shy Mark busted out with moves learned at a dance class.

“Everybody was cheering, and Mark really surprised us all,” she said. “It was a moment I’ll never forget.”